Growing up, I never planned to be a small-business owner, much less a photographer! My mom started homeschooling us while we lived overseas, and continued that as we moved back and settled into life in Iowa. I loved being homeschooled; there was a flexibility and freedom in it, dad's work trips became educational vacations, and I had a great group of friends in our local co-op. Because of our alternate education, and seeing my mom as a self-taught teacher (with the help of workbooks, homeschooling groups & conferences, and our amazing supervising teacher!) I decided that I, too, wanted to be an educator. My plan was generally always to attend college, meet a handsome guy, get my teaching license (or not), and probably just homeschool all our adorable babies that would start showing up. ;)
That's definitely not the path I ended up taking, and I do wonder from time to time what it would look like if I went back to school for a Masters of Education. However...I do love photography, and in its own way, it allows me to be an educator! Mainly for my couples and families, than anything. It also allows me a flexibility that a 9-5 job would not, the chance to meet many new people and network wherever I live (or travel!), creative stimulus, and to continually grow and learn about new things--photography and business related. That's something I found out in college: that I'm a learner. I love to learn! I would have sat in on as many random classes as I could, if I'd had the time. I enjoyed taking a wide assortment of courses, from business & marketing, to history, to creative writing, and even Native American studies. With photography, I'm always trying to learn how to shoot more creatively, edit better, use both natural and artificial light, etc.
The most common questions I get from people is, "How did you get started in photography?" and "When did you start a business?". Since I haven't been very regular about blogging personal or business things of late, and now that winter is on it's way and my sessions will *theoretically* slow down, I wanted to share some of my story! If you don't want to read along, that is totally fine. I won't be hurt. ;) But if you're interested, I would love to share some of the things I've learned along the way! And hopefully, I'll be able to dig up some old photos to share, too. That should be entertaining, haha!
Running a business isn't for the faint of heart, and I definitely do not do it perfectly. I have made mistakes (some bigger than others) and that hurts, sometimes a lot. There are days I want to throw in the towel and quit. But, until God makes it clear that this isn't an area that He wants to continue to sanctify me, I'll keep persevering. And learning. And sharing.
By grace, here is the start of my story.